Southern Blue was a major transportation hub through which many of the Eastern Sea products had to pass. As trade was the city’s lifeline, its doors were kept wide open to all visitors despite the tension. The Southern Blue city lord was still one step away from the divine champion rank. He couldn’t make the city independent like Su Dingqian but had maintained good social relationships with all the other powers. It wasn’t that easy for him to reach his current status.

Just as Qianye was about to thank the passerby and leave, he saw another group of soldiers rushing toward the city gates. This unit consisted of about fifty people and wore the colors of the Wolf King. There, they worked together to lift a city defense cannon onto the newly constructed turret.

A question emerged in Qianye’s mind. “Wasn’t it said that Southern Blue is only the Wolf King’s in name? How come his troops are stationed here?”

“The Wolf King maintains a small squad in the city. There are only a couple hundred of them, but they represent the Wolf King. If not the Wolf King, this place will be occupied by the Spider Emperor, what difference is there? The Wolf King is a human power at the very least,” the passerby said self-deprecatingly.

Qianye nodded—the Wolf King was a subordinate of Zhang Buzhou and could be thought of as someone working for the human race.

At this moment, a commotion broke out nearby, accompanied by a cacophony of shouting and wailing. Qianye glanced over to find two groups arguing on the streets, one of which was made up of two conspicuous arachne.

“You crashed into my car and broke it, this won’t end so easily.” An arachne was swinging his arms and roaring from above.

A middle-aged man shouted back with a furious expression, “Your people had clearly taken up the entire road. We don’t have any place to dodge even if we wanted to, don’t tell me we have to crash into the wall?”

The arachne revealed a nasty smile. “Then you should’ve crashed into the wall!”

Fuming, the middle-aged man broke into a laugh. “This is the funniest thing I’ve heard of! Now that I’ve crashed into your car, speak, what do you want to do about it?”

While speaking, the middle-aged man released his champion-level aura.

The arachne grinned as black mist shrouded his body; he was actually a viscount. In terms of origin power, the middle-aged man was a level higher, but the arachne was inherently powerful. Additionally, the arachne’s heavy axe was an extraordinary weapon whose quality far exceeded the middle-aged man’s sword. There was no way to tell the outcome if they were to start fighting.

Being able to wield such a high-grade axe meant that this viscount’s status wasn’t low. That was also the reason why the middle-aged man was quite restrained despite being furious. He was hoping the other party would back off and act reasonably.

However, the arachne had no intention of letting things be. He pointed at the man’s sword and said, “Give me that sword as compensation for damaging my car.”

The middle-aged man was livid and, at the extremes of anger, broke into a laugh. He fished out an emblem and flashed it at the arachne, saying, “Look, I’m from the Mountain Hunter Corps! I’ll advise you to make more reasonable demands.”

“Mountain Hunter? What’s that?” Apparently, the arachne viscount hadn’t heard of this name. Someone beside him said, “The Mountain Hunter Corps can be considered the external guard of Southern Blue. Judging from his cultivation, this person might be a vice-commander.”

The arachne viscount snorted. “So they’re from the city guard.”

The middle-aged man relaxed a bit upon seeing some apprehension in the enemy’s eyes. He was just about to say something when the arachne viscount raised his axe and swung down!

The attack contained the force of wind and thunder, an all-out blow!

The middle-aged man was shocked out of his wits, not expecting the spider to launch a sneak attack. He was caught off-guard and failed to use his full power in defending against the blow. As the weapons came into contact, the sword was immediately bent out of shape and the middle-aged man spat out a mouthful of blood, staggering back and almost losing his footing.

Apprehension flashed past the arachne’s face as he took a step back. He had gone all out to launch a sneak attack, yet he wasn’t able to kill this middle-aged man. He was even forced back a step, lightly injured and with his origin power shaken. If this were a fair showdown, the other party might be at an advantage.

The middle-aged man’s companions were livid. They all drew their weapons, ready to fight to the death. However, the man forced himself to take a deep breath and shouted, “Stop!”

After keeping everyone restrained, the middle-aged man said to the arachne viscount, “I’m the vice-captain of the Mountain Hunter Corps, Tian Jin. How do I address you? I’ll admit defeat this time. What happened today will be repaid one day.”

The arachne viscount sneered, “Weak humans, you’re not worthy of knowing my name.”

Southern Blue was, after all, a human city. The arachne’s words stirred the crowds and exacerbated the commotion.

The spider scanned everyone around him. “Is shouting all you can do? Is this all you lowlifes are capable of?”

Unable to endure, someone wanted to challenge the arachne. However, his companions pulled him back, saying, “Don’t be rash, his identity isn’t simple.”

At this point, two military vehicles charged over and came to a screeching halt nearby. A werewolf with a striking scar across his face jumped off the vehicle. “Tian Jin, what’s going on?”

The soldiers coming down from the car were all from the Wolf King’s Corps. Their arrival gave everyone here some measure of confidence. Tian Jin immediately described what had happened a while ago, and in the end, he said, “Sir, you must uphold justice for us.”

The Wolf King’s soldiers in Southern Blue were few in number, but they represented the king’s face. This werewolf possessed the strength of a viscount and was the commander of the Wolf King’s forces here.

He shot a glance at the arachne viscount and said with a cold smile, “Meir, you’re growing more arrogant by the day, it looks like your injuries have healed?”

The arachne viscount broke into a laugh. “Your injuries are worse than mine! I should be the one asking you this question. What, are you planning to fight me?”

“Don’t forget that this is Heavenly Monarch Zhang’s domain. Even if your identity is special, you shouldn’t go overboard.”

The arachne kept on laughing. “Zhang Buzhou? Who knows if he’s dead or alive? It’s been so long since there’s been any news of him. If you want to intimidate me, the Wolf King’s name would be a better choice.”

The werewolf viscount wasn’t angry about this, either. “Fine, enough of this. How do you want to settle this?”

The arachne revealed a sinister smile as he pointed at Tian Jin. “Hand him to me and we’ll let this be.”

Tian Jin was both surprised and angry. He voiced his objection because everyone knew that he would die without a doubt once in the spider’s hands.

The werewolf frowned. “This, I cannot do.”

“I’m the Spider Emperor’s envoy. It’s fine if you don’t want to hand me the man, I’ll just leave right now. You guys can wait for the army to arrive!”

The werewolf’s frown deepened as he said to Tian Jin, “What are you waiting for? Apologize to Meir!”

Clearly surprised, Tian Jin’s expression changed drastically. Meir was evidently arrogant and unreasonable, yet this werewolf actually ordered Tian Jin to apologize? Qianye couldn’t help but think whether the Wolf King had admitted defeat in light of the Spider Emperor’s recent breakthrough.

Tian Jin’s voice was trembling. “Sir, this… this.”

The werewolf viscount said impatiently, “What are you yapping about? Apologize quickly! If we offend the Spider Emperor’s envoy for useless humans like you, it won’t be enough compensation no matter how many times you die. Don’t tell me you want the entire Southern Blue to be swallowed by the flames of war?”

Tian Jin had nothing to say against such reasoning. The arachne broke into a laugh, saying, “It seems you understand the situation well. We’ll have a good rematch after I settle in. As for that Tian whatever, I won’t bicker with him out of consideration for the Wolf King. We’ll let this slide if he kneels and kowtows a couple of times.”

Qianye noticed that this Meir was taking advantage of the situation to establish his might, but the angry crowds didn’t dare say anything. Puzzled at the developments, he asked the passerby once more, “How did it end up like this?”

The passerby said with a bitter expression, “It’s always been this way. This Southern Blue looks like a human city, but not to mention the Wolf King’s descendants, even other races like the Spider Emperor and Moonlight Demons are always stepping on our heads. Whenever there’s a conflict, we’ll always lose even if reason is on our side.”

“Does the city lord not intervene?”

𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

“City lord?” The passerby spat. “The man cares only about his status and profits. There’s no way he’ll pay attention to these things. How could the other races become so arrogant if it wasn’t for him allowing it?”

“Isn’t the Wolf King a subordinate of Zhang Buzhou? Why does he allow outsiders to bully the heavenly monarch’s people?”

“Wolf King, humph, he’s from a different race, too. Why would he stand on our side? The heavenly monarch has never interfered in civil matters all these years. The racist Wolf King is gradually usurping all authority, and the ones he had placed in power are all werewolves! They’re quite ferocious toward insiders but are always compromising when it comes to dealing with outsiders. They’re absolutely courteous when dealing with the other races, humph!” The passerby was furious.

Qianye nodded. “Mister, you’re truly talented. May I know your esteemed name? I might have to seek your counsel from time to time in the future.”

The passerby sighed. “What talented? I’ve only read more books than the others. What’s the use of having knowledge? Everything is in vain without good cultivation. There’s nothing I can do except stamp my feet in anger.”

With that, he left and paid Qianye no more attention, almost as though he wasn’t willing to watch the developments here.

Everything progressed as expected. The Southern Blue City Lord never appeared, and the city guards were nowhere to be found. The werewolf remained firm in his decision, and Tian Jin had his job and family to consider. There was no way he could go against them.

The werewolf viscount looked on with cold eyes full of disdain. There were hundreds of spectators here, but no one dared to speak up for the man.

Tian Jin walked slowly toward Meir.

The arachne laughed loudly. “What are you dilly-dallying for? Kneel! I’ll bring you along if you displease me further.”

Tian Jin’s body trembled and his kneels slowly bent toward the ground.

At this moment, a hand reached out to him and lifted him up. This hand was slender, beautiful, and contained an undefiable force within.

The man turned around and saw Qianye.